A/N: Little ficlet that popped into my head while riding high on a Christmas cookie buzz. Thanks for reading!
—-
"You ever heard of jolabokaflod?"
Rogue absently scrolled through the news on her phone. "Gesundheit."
Remy rolled his eyes. "You know I didn't sneeze. Seriously, jolabokaflod, you heard of it?"
"I don't need to hear about any weird sex stuff you've done, Remy." She took a sip of her coffee.
"It's not a-" he stopped himself as he saw the smirk on her face. "I'm being serious."
"For once."
"Yes, for once." He rolled his eyes again. "I'm gonna assume you don't know what it is and just tell you."
"You know what happens when you assume things, right?" She asked as she got up to refill her coffee.
"We already know I'm an ass, so let's just move on, shall we?"
Rogue laughed as she brought the pot over to top up Remy's coffee for him. "Oh alright, go on, share your worldly wisdom."
"Thank you," he said, both for the coffee and allowing him to share his info. "So it's a thing they do in Iceland for Christmas Eve."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, it literally translates to 'Christmas Book Flood.' People exchange books on Christmas Eve and then spend the evenin' readin' and drinkin' hot cocoa."
He looked up to find Rogue staring at him in disbelief.
"So instead of playin' dumb games, so singin' stupid songs, or any of those other so-called traditions, they just get to read all night?!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, basically."
Rogue reached over and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and gave him a couple shakes. "WHY DIDN'T I KNOW ABOUT THIS BEFORE NOW?!"
Remy laughed and disentangled her hand from his shirt. "Because I wasn't here before now."
"Totally your fault then."
He chuckled. "I was thinkin', maybe you'd want to do jolabokaflod tonight, since everyone's kinda gone for the holidays."
Her face fell. "I didn't get anyone a book."
"S'okay, we can just pick a book we'd like to read for this year."
"I dunno, I don't want Hank or the professor to be left out."
"No worries, I already told them about it. They think it's a great idea."
Rogue looked at him. "You're a sneaky bastard, you know that?"
"Damn right," he smirked at her.
—-
Curled up on the couch, nestled under a cozy blanket, mug of hot cocoa on the table beside her, Rogue let out a silent sigh of satisfaction. She glanced up from her book and looked towards the other end of the couch. Remy was in a similar position as her with book and blanket, eating a cookie from the platter of sweets on the coffee table.
She looked around the room and saw Hank in the oversized armchair, also engrossed in his book and enjoying a treat. Professor Xavier was positioned by the fire crackling away in the fireplace, a content smile on his face as he sipped his tea and turned the page.
Rogue turned her attention back to her couchmate. Remy was engrossed in his book, Dune it said on the cover. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.
"Hey Remy?" She said, giving him a little nudge with her foot.
He looked up at her. "Yeah?"
She smiled at him. "This was a really great idea."
He smiled back at her. "Glad you think so." He raised his mug at her. "Merry jolabokaflod, chere."
"Merry jolabokaflod, swamp rat."